3 students set fire to themselves in Senegal

Changes in geography credits spark protests

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Three students set themselves on fire on the campus of Senegal’s largest university on Friday to protest changes in the way credits are being counted in the college’s geography department, witnesses said.

All three survived after their friends threw sand on them, and only one was admitted to the hospital with burns on his arm and a portion of his face.

“Today, I chose to die. I didn’t want to live anymore,” Mansour Niang said, just before he was taken to see a psychiatrist at the municipal hospital. “I am very proud of what I have done. I’m happy with myself.”

The students in the geography department launched a hunger strike last month to protest a change implemented by the university in how credits are counted for the three-year geography undergraduate degree. Niang and his classmates say they were just one credit away from completing their degree, and the change means that they will need to spend another calendar year taking a class that is the equivalent of two hours of instruction per week. It also means they will not be eligible for the masters degree in geography.

Student leader Seydou Niang, who organized the hunger strike at the University of Cheikh Anta Diop, said another 50 students are ready to set themselves on fire in protest. Self-immolation has become a potent protest ever since a vegetable seller in Tunisia set himself alight, an act that gave birth to the Arab Spring.

The state-owned Senegalese Press Agency reported that the rector of the university ruled out any discussion regarding the system by which students are being admitted to the geography masters program. “We cannot go back on our decision which was final,” Saliou Ndiaye is quoted as saying.

The University of Cheikh Anta Diop was once one of the most prestigious universities in West Africa. It has fallen into disrepair and the campus is frequently immobilized by student protests and strikes by the relatively low-paid professors.